The New York Times said Saturday that China has blocked access to the
newspaper's Web site and other news sites that are occasionally
critical of Beijing.
The Times said Beijing blocked Chinese
language versions of the BBC, Voice of America and Asiaweek earlier
this week, but all were accessible again by Friday.
However, the
paper said its site was still blocked Saturday. The site of Ming Pao, a
Hong Kong newspaper was blocked earlier this week and was still
restricted on Friday.
The paper quoted Rebecca MacKinnon, a
researcher at Hong Kong University who specializes in China's Internet
controls, as saying the reasons for the restrictions are mysterious.
China's Foreign Affairs Ministry offered no explanation for the blockages.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.